


That's Where you Belong, in my Arms

by charmainders



Series: GotG || Peter & Gamora [4]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Comfort No Hurt, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Lovey-Dovey, Morning After, No Angst, No Spoilers, Post-Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 05:03:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14888148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmainders/pseuds/charmainders
Summary: Gamora and Peter have a bit of time to themselves after waking up the morning after their first time ever since confessing to their unspoken thing, and naturally, Gamora's mind wonders and has many thoughts about it.None of which are regrets. Just a newfound love for the man who was now leaving kisses on her skin.





	That's Where you Belong, in my Arms

She can hear the quiet noise of Peter's Zune playing in the background as her eyes flutter open, the lyrics of the song unfamiliar, since she's never really heard the song playing in the flight deck (or anywhere else for that very matter), but at the same time she welcomes the soft beating of the drums and the richness of the musician's voice. It's peaceful, something to wring out the silence of the Captain's quarters within the Quadrant. If the mornings never started like this, she'd find herself waking up to nothing but the sounds of machines working at its hardest. By the judgement she's made, she's a hundred percent aware that Peter may have woken up at some point during the sleep cycle to plug the Zune in; either that or he'd let her sleep, without disturbance, and left his Zune playing for her.

Gamora attempts to shift her weight just a little, but she's soon aware of the arm that drapes over the dip and rise of her bare and tiny waist. The skin on her back tingles just a little, and in her groggy state she wonders briefly if anything, or everything that was remotely close to waking up with horror, in the middle of some battle, was making her this uneasy. Soon she realizes that it isn't any form of danger, but it was just the other occupant of the bed, leaving gentle and open-mouthed kisses along the flat of her shoulder blade. He knows very well that her shoulder blades are considerably sensitive, making her shiver very minimally under his careful touch.

For just a moment more, Gamora lets herself relish in the soft kisses that Peter's showering upon her, basking in the love and affection, before she turns, lying on her back to face Peter. He now adjusts his hand just a little to splay his arm across her midriff. His eyes never leave hers as she adjusts herself to be more comfortable, shifting just a bit closer, and allowing her to lay her head on his arm. Immediately as her head lays down, Peter takes absolutely no hesitation in reaching his hand forward to comb through her hair. It's not as dry or tangled as it would be after a long mission, but it's just smooth enough for him to take just a small handful, weave his fingers through them, and comb the locks out. She's asked Peter sometime ago, if doing that had any form of symbolism, and why he liked to do it so much, during one of their many cuddling sessions in the flight deck whilst on duty together.

_"Ma used to do it to coax me back to bed after nightmares. It always worked. When she died. . .It took me a while to get used to not having someone to calm me back down. It's a simple gesture, really, but I guess I wanted to. . .show you that I love you, you know? In my own special way, without words."_

Her lips twitch in an upward curve, just a fair bit, at the words he'd said previously. She's not sure if Peter caught her smiling for absolutely no reason (to him), but not that she really cares about that prospect anyway. Her attention now focuses on the song in the background, and she focuses on the lyrics.

_Waiting for a star to fall, and carry your heart into my arms; that's where you belong; in my arms baby, yeah. . ._

She's not a poet, nor a writer as Peter terms them, but she tries her best to understand the lyrics behind certain songs. From what she's able to pick up of this song (and by that she's really trying her utmost best), it's about the man hoping for the day that the girl he's so crazily in love with to open up her insecurities to him, and be able to talk about it without fearing the idea of rejection. He deems that the _'best place'_ for her to do so is with him, because he knows he's willing to give her unconditional love.

Subconsciously as she drowns herself in these thoughts, she knows that she's being watched by Peter; still in the midst of combing through her locks. Something within Gamora is screaming at herself for letting him take her the night before, but yet, she knows that there's no longer any form of fear and there's no need to hide her emotions around Peter, who unlike her, was more than used to being able to show emotions through the actions he did. She's allowed to show emotions, not as a manipulative weapon, but to genuinely express any form of thought or feeling. Under Thanos, he'd punished her. _Weak,_ she winces a little, and _pathetic._ _Assassins don't love,_ she can hear him say, but all she does is ignore it and let herself experience the rush of every single emotion. And last night hadn't been any different. The soft blue-blackish to purple love bites were a show of how much trust she had in Peter to truly show her the extent of his love for her; her trust in him that he wouldn't let her go.

It's funny, she muses, that the trust she has in Peter is deeper than she thinks. On the outside, the trust on any battlefield out in the galaxy is important, such that they refrain from getting to concerned about each other and end up risking the other's life. They'd talked about it sometime after confessing to their unspoken thing - trust, to them both, was the most crucial to ensuring their safety and objectivity. But on the inside, the trust on an intimate level is _different._ It didn't come easy, nor did she have any courage of sorts to properly face it. They've both agreed to put trust first, love second.

It seems that Peter was itching to speak to her, looking at the way he's been looking as if he was finding the correct words to say, lest she'd slap him if he said a wrong word. In a gentle tone, he questions, "Slept well?"

"I'd think so. No bad dreams happened last night."

"Nightmares? You didn't tell me you were having them."

"I prefer to keep such issues away."

Ironic that she'd just thought about trust between them both.

"I'm always here to listen, you know? Nobody can take you away from me anymore."

She contemplates the offer for just a little while; if she told him anything it'd be dragging him down, having him worry about her welfare. But again, they have placed their trust in each other first over their love. Ultimately, she would have to tell him about it sometime, and it would be better now, since they have some free time between themselves, to tell him about it.

"Nightmares began for me when I was just a child. Fights that never ended, landing myself in a pool of blood, unable to stand and unable to function after. Cold, and dead. That. . .was one of my older nightmares," Gamora lets out a sigh, and continues after,"After joining the Guardians, the nightmares became about all of you. Groot dying, again, but no longer able to be reborn. Rocket and Drax, both out, cold, and bleeding out. And then there's you. . .stabbed, shot, I don't know, through the heart, a terran's most vital organ. You were bleeding, Peter. But yet you could crack jokes whilst dying out. I couldn't tell you about it. None of it made sense to me."

Peter can only let out a shaky breath, before pulling her even closer to him. Now, the smooth skin of her chest came into contact with Peter's own, his chest hair forming a slightly rough texture on his skin. Not that she minded, anyway. She liked it that way. Sort of natural and open to her.

"Also. . .I hope I didn't disappoint you last night," She muttered under her breath, the back of her fingers streaking across his cheek, allowing herself to feel the delicate skin, covered in stubble that highlighted his jawline, and into his sideburns, perfectly shaped and well trimmed. Her fingers found their way into his hair, clearly messy from sleep, but it makes him look adorable like that, with sleep clearly clouding his eyes. She'd never had sex with someone this intimate with her, all the other times she'd done it was to get information. A quick one and she was on her way. But with Peter, it was slow, passionate and sweet. She wasn't able to express herself as much as Peter during the session. and she feels, perhaps, that she might not have shown as much love as Peter had last night.

Yet, Peter had been kind and supportive during so, guiding her to what felt best for him, and helping her understand the process. In return, he'd given her quite the night of her life, sending her into multiple highs and the feeling of his lips upon hers drove her to ecstasy. 

"No, you didn't at all. You said it yourself, baby girl," She chuckled when he called her that, he'd found a way to make her giggle at his pet names for her, "You are new to intimate experiences. If anything, last night was more than enough for me. I said before, that I didn't mind how the night went as long as I know I won't regret it in the morning. And so far? I'm not. Lying here next to you, I realize now what a real relationship looks like."

And she does too. A real relationship was based on the trust between two, starting from the foundation of being best friends, and developing that into something more than what was already present of a friendship. And she knows that it works for both of them, as teammates, as leaders. If she wanted trust from him, she'd do the same for him. 

"I"m so in love with you, you know that?" She can hear him mumble as he leaned a little forward to bury his head in the crook of her neck, kissing the soft skin of her neck, leaving her skin feeling tingly in the right way. She loves the pet names he calls her, but she's never going to admit it to him.

Just like that, even with just a few spoken words between them both, Gamora realizes another thing - she's finally found where home is for her. The Guardians have given her the gift of a family. Regardless of how damn dysfunctional they can get in public and on missions, they're always going to be there for each other. Even if some of them don't wish to admit it, like Rocket, she knows deep down that they do care about each other. From the simplest of toning down their work when it was late in the night cycle, to making sure they've all eaten, each of the Guardians have a special way of caring for the other.

In Peter's case, it's making the people he loves and appreciate smile as much as they can. He dances around Mantis when she's upset to cheer her up, and he listens with interest to Drax talk about Hovat and Kamaria. He tries his best to help Rocket when it comes to repairing parts and designing new weaponry. He accompanies Kraglin on the flight deck even if it isn't his shift. And with Groot, he lets him listen to the Zune and gives the kid candy to keep him occupied. It's these simple gestures that shows he cares for his teammates, as their captain, about their welfare and their well being.

But with Gamora, his actions include simply holding her hand, or tangling his arm around her waist to pull her closer till she can feel his body heat radiating off him. A simple gesture, really, but it's more than enough to know that he loves her with all his heart. Many of his actions were learnt from his mother. From combing through her hair, to laying together with nothing but the earbuds in and the Zune between them - it's all his way of expressing his love without words.

A relationship doesn't need many words. It's the action that counts, after all actions speak louder than words. And right now, in Peter's embrace, as he peppers soft kisses on her shoulder, she realizes that this is her home, where she's destined to finally be after all this years. In the arms of someone she _knows_ that cares for her, and in the loving care of someone who is just as in love as she is in love with him. She trusts him wholeheartedly, more than enough to let him take her, and that's a major sign that perhaps her way of thinking of love has matured too. She'd used to think that love was a game, made for the gullible and the innocent. But now that she was in love, she realizes love takes courage and patience. And of course, a lot of love.

Right now, in the midst of their lazy morning cycle, their limbs tangled, barely covered from waist down by the soft blanket, her hand on his thigh while his on the dip and rise of her waist, she feels her heart swell at the way he's, yet again, leaving kisses on her shoulder. She can feel the way he delicately does it, each kiss with every bit of passion in them. Her body tingles with each kiss that he leaves on her skin. When he's done with the kisses, he looks up and backs up a bit, but still close enough for her to feel the sensation of his chest leaning against hers. She's sure that this is also another sign of his love for her. He'd called this aftercare, and if this was what it felt like, to be lovingly cared for in his embrace, without a care for the rest of the world that's happening around them, she thinks that she doesn't mind this life. For once, she knows that this is where she would rather be for the rest of her life. She knows that this is her home. The place she finally knows that she belongs in, the place that will welcome her home for the rest of her life, the place she knows is a source of refuge if she needed one. Gamora knows that his heart is open for her to enter, and so is hers for him to do the very same.

When their eyes make contact, she notices how his eyes, instead of the passion and lust that were in them the night before, the green in his eyes were bright, filled with affection. Her hand raises from his thigh, to rest her palm on his cheek. It's a small gesture, yet a smile cracks and Peter's leaning in to her touch. Both of them don't speak at all, but his hand's still on the dip and rise of her waist, while her thumb strokes his cheekbones and jawline, where a small amount of stubble has started to grow again.

Even if she still can't bring it in her to say the words, she's willing to try. For him.

_"I love you too."_

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short fic to evade the sad ending for our two galaxy lovers in IW. It's not a fix it, I know, but at least it's enough I hope. The song used is "Waiting For a Star To Fall" by Boy Meets Girl, a song I recently rediscovered thanks to a local radio station that plays 80s songs during one of its segments during the week. It's a classic that I've heard multiple times, but the first time that the lyrics really reminded me of Peter and Gamora's relationship. Her opening up to him takes a bit of time, but he's willing to wait. And that's what makes their relationship even more special.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading this, comments are appreciated.


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